More than 100 killed in Nigeria twin blasts

President Goodluck Jonathan condemns twin bomb blasts in northern city of Jos that killed at least 118 people.

The bombings occurred at the Jos Main Market, between a railway terminus and University Teaching Hospital [EPA]

Twin car bombs that exploded at a crowded bus terminal and market in Nigeria's central city of Jos have killed at least 118 people, the country's emergency agency said.

Coordinator Mohammed Abdulsalam of the National Emergency Management Agency said fires raged in buildings after Tuesday's blasts and he expected more bodies to be found.

"We've now recovered 118 bodies from the rubble," he said. "This could rise by morning, as there is still some rubble we haven't yet shifted."

There was a loud bang that shook my whole house. Then smoke was rising.

Veronica Samson, witness

The bombs were concealed in a truck and a minibus, officials said. The second blast killed some of the rescue workers who had rushed to the scene, which was obscured by billows of black smoke.

"It's horrifying, terrible," said Mark Lipdo of the Stefanos Foundation, a Christian charity based in Jos, who described the sickening smell of burning human flesh.

Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idriss, reporting from the northern town of Yola, said the latest attack will put even more pressure on the presidency, following a wave of criticism over his government's handling of the abduction.

President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the blasts, calling the perpetrators "cruel and evil".

"The government remains fully committed to winning the war against terror, and this administration will not be cowed by the atrocities of enemies of human progress and civilisation," he said in a statement issued by his office.

Boko Haram violence

Al Jazeera's Mohammed Adow, reporting from the capital, Abuja, said there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

"However, suspicion will most likely fall on the group Boko Haram," he said.

Boko Haram grabbed world headlines with the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls a month ago from a remote village in the northeast.

Britain, the United States and France have pledged to help rescue them.

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